Kheer (Indian Rice Pudding)

Kheer is an Indian rice pudding. Made with three basic ingredients: rice milk and sugar. This recipe uses more than 3 ingredients but those are optional. Furthermore, kheer can be a vegan dish too, just switch out whole milk with almond milk and skip the step of roasting rice with ghee.

Serves: 5 

Prep: 30 mins

Cook: 40 mins 

Total:  1 hour 10 mins

Ingredients: 

• ¼ cup basmati rice 
• 1 teaspoon ghee - also known as clarified butter
• 3-4 cardamom pods (slightly crushed)
• 1 litre whole milk 
• 4-5 tablespoons sugar ( can be any type ) 
• 3 tablespoons chopped nuts (optional) 
• 1 tablespoons dried sultanas (optional) 

Instructions: 

1. Rinse rice until water turns clear. Soak rice in water for 20-30 mins. After 30 mins drain rice and set aside
2. Heat a pan on medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of ghee and add your rice. Also add crushed cardamom. 
3. Mix for about 2 minutes. Then add milk to the pan. Adjust heat to medium-high. Make sure to stir well. 
4. While milk is boiling, stir occasionally so that the milk doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. After 10-15 mins milk should come to a boil. 
5. Once milk is boiling, lower heat and let kheer cook for about 25 mins on low heat. Stir every 2-3 minutes. 
6. After 25 minutes the milk should have reduced and the rice should be completely cooked. Add sugar and any chopped nuts or dried sultanas. 
7. Cook kheer for further 5 minutes. Sugar should be dissolved. Don’t worry if kheer doesn’t look thick at this point. It will thicken as it cools down. Remove the pan from heat. Let it cool down. 
8. Kheer can be served warm or chilled. Personally I like mine warm.  If you want to serve chilled, refrigerate kheer for 4 to 5 hours.